Secretary-General Johannes Kyrle at the opening of a new Austrian consulate in Moscow

06.12.2007

Vienna, 6 December 2007 -Today Dr. Johannes Kyrle, Secretary-General at the Foreign Ministry opened the new consulate building of the Austrian Embassy in Moscow in the presence of Moscow’s Deputy Mayor Yuri Rosiak and representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to Kyrle, for many people an embassy constitutes the first contact with a foreign country, and it is therefore important that the people feel welcome. "I think that we have achieved this with the new building", said Kyrle. From now on, there will be a larger waiting room and 10 instead of 3 counters, allowing for a significant reduction of waiting time for visa applicants. At the same time, state-of-the-art security systems have been installed.

After opening joint visa offices in Chisinau (Moldavia) in April and in Podgorica (Montenegro) in October of this year, the opening of the new consulate building in Moscow is a further step in the development of Austria’s relations to its Eastern and South-Eastern neighbours, concluded Kyrle, putting the event in a larger context.